


Bucky on Mars

by Saltylocks



Series: Salty ships Marvel [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Martian (2015)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Bucky is the Martian, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-07-11 08:57:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7041628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltylocks/pseuds/Saltylocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: What if dr Beck actually was a cover for Bucky? And what if he was the one who got stranded on Mars?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, I just thought of this and had to write a thing.

“Hi Stevie.”

Bucky could feel his lips twitching as he looked into the camera.

“Got myself in a bit of a pickle.”

He leaned back, tucking the metal arm behind his head. 

“I’m not even sure if this airs, so I might as well dedicate them to you. In case anyone find them later.”

The former Winter Soldier moved his arms behind his head, and winced when the wound in his stomach stretched. He quieted and then looked into the camera, stroking his hair from his face.

“Mission report,” he sighed. “This is James Buchanan Barnes, formally known as the Winter Soldier, and more recently as Dr Chris Beck. Yeah, I’m a botanist, Steve. And an astronaut. Bet you didn’t see that coming.”

Bucky chuckled a little. 

“Maybe the astronaut part. Got Stark to thank for that one. Maybe Hydra too, come to think about it. If Dr Watney was here, he’d tell me he’d never seen such a swift recovery from what should have been a deadly projectile wound in my stomach. Good thing that bastardized serum helps me heal fast.”

Bucky got up and showed his side to the camera. There was barely anything left to show anyway, a small round scab. 

“See, you don’t have to worry, Steve. Good as new.”

Bucky could feel his heart pounding at the thought of Steve actually hearing him. Imagine if he’d actually seen him. He would be so worried. The former assassin sighed as he sat back in his chair.

“What happened to us, Steve?” he whispered. “I miss you. I miss you so much.” 

He cleared his throat. 

“It will take some time for them to get here. In the mean while I got to figure out how many days I can survive, and who to grow things, because, no offence, but I don’t think NASA is that fast.”

Bucky smiled brightly into the camera, feeling his heart sink.

“Over and out.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about Bucky and his feelings.

“Mission report, sol 4.”

Bucky cleared his throat. 

“Haven’t talked in a while. Did some inventory. Steve, I might run out of food soon, but I think I’ve found a way to keep alive: potatoes. Potatoes. I mean, I know they are good and all, I could list the reasons, but I never thought they would save me on Mars.”

Bucky tried to smile, if only to keep up appearances.

“Who would have thought that Bucky Barnes ever would go to space though? I mean, if someone had approached me in Brooklyn and said, ‘hey, humanity's going to the moon in the 60’s and about 70 years later, you go to Mars’, I would have laughed them in the face. Maybe even kicked his or her ass. Yet, here I am. Stuck on Mars.”

Bucky sighed. 

“I remember though, Steve, you were such a nerd. You drew lunar landscapes. You drew fantastical ways we could defeat the lack of oxygen. You read silly books while you were too sick to work. You had me read them for you sometimes. I don’t remember what they were about. I think there might have been some Jules Verne in there though. You loved stuff like that.”

Bucky leaned back in his chair.

“You’re the one who should be out here. Don’t get me wrong, when I got chosen for this mission, I was thrilled. But I felt a bit like an impostor too. I just... I wished you could come with me. You wouldn’t, though. I know why. You have responsibilities. You are Captain America!”

Bucky kicked the metal table, making a dent in the aluminum. He stood up, pushing his hair back from his face, burying his fingers in frustration. 

“And who am I, right?” 

He sat down, burying his face in his hands, rubbing his chin with his flesh hand. 

“A friend of the Captain. Steve Rogers’ companion. Always and forever, right? That was what people saw when they looked at me. And you had other friends like that. Sam. Tony. Natasha. Sharon. Even in the army, we were a part of a team. Still I felt like we had a special, something. I don’t know, I felt it stronger after you fought the others for me, when we took down Zemo, when you stood against Tony and the United Nations... I might have thought I mattered to you more deeply than that. Than anyone else.”

Bucky lifted his eyes to the camera.

“I guess not.”

He kind of wished, in a moment of weakness, that he really would die, so he could make Steve feel extra bad. Then he felt bad for dumping it all on Steve.

“Sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t put this on you. I didn’t say anything either. I shouldn’t... I shouldn’t blame you.”

Bucky sighed.

“This is not a good mission report, is it?”

He glared defiantly into the camera again.

“Not that I care. I don’t care if I ever make a good mission report ever again. It feels good to botch it. Feels freeing to not do what they want. Especially if I’m going to die anyway.”

Bucky leaned back, looking around.

“I should probably get back to the potatoes. Bye Stevie.”


	3. Chapter Three

“Mission report. Not sure what sol. I haven’t kept track of the days. Never been good at that sort of things. Maybe it’s because I was frozen so many times, it fucked with my sense of time. I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, wide awake, and sometimes I sleep for two days straight.”

Bucky shrugged. His hair and eyebrows on his right side were singed and curly.

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway... I made contact. I found the Pathfinder. Imagine, that when I was still assassinating Soviet dissenters, some guys made the Pathfinder. It is really cool. Sometimes, I’m just so amazed by the things humanity had been up to. Especially when I was otherwise occupied.”

Bucky smiled.

“The potatoes are coming up good. Had a bit of an accident. There were some fire." 

He turned his head, showing the bare side to the camera.

"If you were here, you would have been so worried. I need water, Stevie. I can survive most things, but I need water. The potatoes too.”

He scratched his arm.

“Itches a bit but I’m fine. I feel very tranquil up here. I don’t know, I feel like I have finally time to think. I imagine what I would say to you if you were here, Steve. Or what you would say. Keeps me afloat.”

Bucky chuckled.

“You wouldn’t mind the food, I don’t think. The potatoes, some condiments. You always liked what I made you, back when we only had some cornflour and milk. Remember? I banned you from making anything ever again, after you made that horrible porridge. I even thought you might would get all better if I started making the food for you. Like you would miraculously heal as long as you got some decent food in you. Those were some different times.”

Bucky sighed.

“I hope Sharon is making you good food. I know it doesn’t matter now, when your asthma is gone, but still...”

He swallowed and scratched the bare side of his head. 

“I got the wedding invitation,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I...”

Bucky felt his face scrunch up, his throat blocked. He tried to speak, but it was nearly impossible.

“Over and out,” he croaked, and turned off the recording.


	4. Chapter Four

“Steve, I know what I have to do!”

Bucky looked almost giddy for a while before his smile fell and he dragged his fingers through his hair. Some strands caught in his fingers and fell down his shirt, and he brushed them over his shoulder absentmindedly.

“Yes, I still talk to you like you’re here,” he said, glaring defiantly into the camera. “Heard it is good for people who are isolated long periods of time, to talk to someone. Like that movie with the guy on the deserted island, talking to his volleyball. Makes them keep sane for longer.”

The former Winter soldier snorted. 

“It was either you or talking to the potatoes. You should feel honored, really.”

He sank down in his chair, leaning his head back. He sat like that for almost five minutes.

“When I got in touch with the base again, I thought they would tell me that there weren’t enough funds to get me home. Instead, they told me that I was, and I quote, “top priority”. Imagine that. I’m kinda impressed, actually.”

Bucky’s gaze froze and he stared somewhere far off in the distance for a long time. 

“They didn’t tell me if you knew, Steve, of if you even knew I was gone. It’s not like I announced it to the world, “hey, you know that really old assassin called the Winter Soldier? Yeah, he turned into astronaut and now he’s going to Mars”. No, Chris Beck went to Mars. But I really did study, and I really am a botanist. At least some of the story checks out.”

Bucky stared into the camera again. 

“When you lie, keep to the truth as much as possible. You have a lot of experience from that, trying to get drafted. You remember that? You go the furthest when you kept it real. You felt bad for lying but you said you did it for the greater good.”

He sighed.

“Of course you remember.”

“Anyway,” he continued, “I gotta start packing. Tomorrow I go for Schiaparelli. It’s the plan, apparently. So this will be my last recording on Mars. No, I’m not trying to be dramatic, I just... If someone finds this later, I wanted to state it for the camera, you know?”

He grinned and winked, a shadow of a man from the 1950’s.

“Steve, I’m coming home.”

Bucky got up and adjusted the camera.

“This is James Buchanan Barnes, signing out for the last time. Over and out.”


	5. Epilogue

Bucky quieted an put his pen down. The room behind him was so silent you would have heard a pen drop. 

“...Any questions?”

Bucky turned around to face his students. All of them looked bewildered, curious and eager. Then, they all their hands raised at the same time.

***

After the lecture, he got some coffee from the cafeteria and walked outside. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the feeling of the mist, the smell of rain and taste of the lukewarm beverage. He sat down at the bench next to a large tree, and took small sips. A small sapling grew close to his feet and he touched it, careful not to break it of.

“Hi there,” he whispered. 

“Bucky?”

The sound made him look up, old memories flaring up inside him. 

“Steve.”

They shared a quick hug. Bucky didn’t bother to ask how Steve had known how to find him there.

“May I sit?” Steve asked.

“It’s a free country,” Bucky quipped, and Steve gave him a somewhat severe look before sitting down. 

Bucky smiled at him, feeling that nothing could shake the serene feeling inside him. He was at peace, he didn’t need much, just being alive and sitting here with his oldest friend was enough.

“It’s good that you are back,” Steve said, awkwardly.

“Yeah, it is. Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

Steve took the paper cup and drank some of it.  


“It’s good.”

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

“Better than surrogate.”

“That’s not a very high bar. Everything’s better than surrogate.”

“Uh-huh, that’s true.”

Bucky didn’t really want to ask, but he felt like it was the next step.

“How’s Sharon?” he said, folding his arms, looking straight ahead.

“Fine, I think. Haven’t seen her in a couple of months.”

Bucky couldn’t help but feel a small thrill in his chest. _Don’tgetyourhopesupDon’tgetyourhopesupDon’t get..._

“Oh?” he said, his voice almost crackling. “Trouble in paradise?”

“We... we didn’t get married. The wedding was cancelled. It was kind of a funny story, actually...”

“Steve, what did you do?”

“I kind of... uh, left her on the altar.”

Bucky just gawked at him. 

“You what?”

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, I just couldn’t handle it, okay? I mean, you were presumed dead! On fricking Mars!”

“So you leave the girl who actually to marry you? Real smooth, Stevie!”

“It wasn’t that simple!”

Bucky’s calm mood was gone, and replaced with righteous anger. He had never liked Sharon, but walking out on her, breaking that promise, was still wrong and very unlike Steve.

“Please, tell me why it wasn’t simple then!”

“Because it was the same day as they broadcasted that you had been found!”

Bucky quieted. Steve looked at him, his eyes blank with tears.  


“After the accident was announced, I, I don’t know, I guessed I just had to carry on, as when Peggy died, as when mom and dad and everyone else I knew disappeared. I was devastated, everything turned heavy and cold and distant. And then... then you came back. Like you did before. You were there, on every screen, and I knew, I knew I couldn’t be what Sharon needed, and Sharon wasn’t what I needed either. I needed you, I needed to know you were safe. That was more important than anything. I felt like I’ve lost you so many times already and this time you were in danger again and I couldn’t help in any other way than hope. Bucky...”

Bucky reached out to wipe his friends tears away. Steve placed his hand over his.

“I’m here,” Bucky said, “don’t cry, I’m not going away.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve gasped, “if I ever made you feel like I didn’t want you around. I always want you around.”

“Then I’ll stay,” Bucky hummed, “simple as that.”

Steve smiled through the tears.

“Simple as that.”

**Author's Note:**

> To show appreciation, leave a kudos<3


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